The present invention relates to a method for processing a textile sheet material and applications in which such textile sheet materials may be utilized.
In particular in the case of vehicles, it is customary in the interior to use fabrics or cloths which, on the one hand, have an aesthetic value for enhancing the visual impression of the vehicle interior and, on the other hand, fulfill a safety function, for example, cover hard or sharp edges of components of the vehicle (e.g., vehicle seats). For this purpose, textile sheet materials of this type often have to have precisely predetermined and reliably reproducible properties, in particular with regard to their tearing resistance or in general their durability.
In particular in the case of vehicles (e.g., motor vehicles), one or more what are referred to as airbags are frequently provided to increase the safety of their users, in particular of the occupants. What are referred to as side impact airbags which are fitted either in a vehicle door or in a vehicle seat are known. A seat of this type has, in particular, a seat surface and a backrest and generally, to provide an advantageous visual design, is provided covered by a cover. A vehicle seat of this type is just one example of a vehicle component, which is also referred to below as a device.
The provision of an airbag generally involves providing what is referred to as an airbag module in the region of the seat or of the vehicle component. The airbag module or the airbag is referred to below in simplified form as “airbag”. According to the invention, it is necessary, on the one hand, during long-term use of the vehicle, for an advantageous appearance of the component or of the seat to be ensured over the entire service life of the vehicle, and, on the other hand, it is necessary, in the event of the triggering of the airbag appearing necessary, for the airbag to be safely, correctly and completely triggered and deployed, this being ensured in all situations. These requirements are furthermore added to the demand for cost-effective production and the use of cost-effective materials.
For this purpose, for example, it is generally known, in the case of a vehicle seat in which an airbag is integrated, to provide a cover of the seat in such a manner that the airbag which inflates in the event of the vehicle being involved in an accident tears open a seam of the cover in order to form an outlet opening through which the side impact airbag expands. Furthermore, it is generally known to limit the locations at which the airbag emerges from the seat by attaching a reinforcing web. It is disadvantageous in this case that the location at which the airbag can emerge from the seat is nevertheless not precisely defined because all of the remaining locations (apart from the connecting region) are suitable as outlet locations. This effect is made worse by the fact that the strength values of the materials mostly used as cover material have a large variance over different production batches and a large variance over the temperature range relevant for use in a motor vehicle. Overall, the effect of an airbag is therefore less readily foreseeable, which increases the number of tests necessary before or during the production of seats of this type and, as a result, increases the costs.
The strength values of textile sheet materials, in particular the strength values of seams of textile sheet materials sewn up to one another are in a known manner often dependent on whether the material of the sewn-up sheet material unravels or frays, i.e. whether the structure of the material, for example its fabric structure, is durable or not. Known textile sheet materials (e.g., fabrics) have the tendency, after cutting, to lose their fabric structure, in particular at the border (e.g., due to fraying). This change in the fabric structure impairs the stability of a sheet material of this type, which is critical in terms of safety in particular for a use of sheet material of this type as what is referred to as airbag belts or stabilizing layers, with the result that measures are necessary to avoid such fraying, for example by undertaking a laser-guided cutting of the stabilizing layer with subsequent, partially implemented fusing of the fibers on the border. However, a disadvantage of this measure is that renewed cutting of the sheet material in turn conceals the risk of once again weakening the seam properties. It is therefore disadvantageous that known textile sheet materials are not durable in their structure (or, in the case of a sealed edge, are only durable at the latter itself).
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved textile sheet material and a method for processing it. It would also be desirable to provide a textile sheet material and a method for processing it in which a maximum degree of precision of the strength values and a maximum degree of reproducibility of the strength values of the sheet material may be obtained. It would also be desirable to provide a textile sheet material and a method for processing it in which may be produced at a relatively low material cost and with a relatively low number of tests to be carried out before or during production to determine strength values.